Rotary compressor with cooling

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for compressing fluids by employing a rotating rotor wherein said fluid compressed to a pressure that is higher than the unit exit pressure; said fluid is discharged from said rotor via exit nozzles discharging backward; said fluid being cooled within said rotor by employing a second fluid that may be either compressible or non-compressible type. Specific fluids to be used that are disclosed are air as the fluid to be compressed, and water as the second fluid. The device may also be used to produce refrigeration and heating, either with accompanying pressurization of said fluid, or without pressurizing of said fluid.

United States Patent [191 Eskeli [111 3,748,057 July 24, 1973 ROTARYCOMPRESSOR WITH COOLING inventor: Michael Eskeli, 6220 Orchid Ln.,

Dallas, Tex. 75230 Filed: Jan. 11, 1972 Appl. No.: 216,929

. References Cited 7 UNITED STATES PATENTS 711902 Harris 415/116 6/1936Kessel 415/116 2/1967 Bachl 415/199 A 7/1961 Reinecke 415/116 PrimaryExaminer-C. J. Husar Attorney- Wofford, Felsman & Tails 57] ABSTRACT Amethod and apparatus for compressing fluids by employing a rotatingrotor wherein said fluid compressed to a pressure that is higher thanthe unit exit pressure; said fluid is discharged from said rotor viaexit nozzles discharging backward; said fluid being cooled within saidrotor by employing a second fluid that may be either compressible ornon-compressible type. Specific fluids to be used that are disclosed areair as the fluid to be compressed, and water as the second fluid. Thedevice may also be used to produce refrigeration and heating, eitherwith accompanying pressurization of said fluid, or without pressurizingof said fluid.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Patented July 24, 1973 no u 1 ROTARYCOMPRESSOR WITII COOLING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This inventionrelates generally to devices for compressing gases by employingcentrifugal force to compress said gas within a rotating rotor.

The art of compressing gases has seen many devices. In some of thosedevices, a gas is accelerated within a rotating rotor passage and thendischarged from said passage usually radially outward, and then said gasis compressed in a diffuser where the kinetic energy of said fluid isconverted to pressure.

The main disadvantage of these conventional compressors is that theirefflciency is rather poor due to friction to the high speed passage ofsaid gas within said rotor, and losses in converting said kinetic energyto pressure in said diffuser.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross section of thedevice, and

FIG. 2 is an end view of the same unitshown in FIG. I with a portionremoved to show interior details.

FIG. 3 is a section of the rotor being used in this device.

DESCRlPTlON OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS It is an object of this inventionto provide a method and apparatus for compressing gases, wherein saidgas is compressed within a rotating rotor to a pressure that is normallyhigher than the discharge pressure from the unit, with cooling appliedto said gas during compression by circulating another fluid in heatexchange relationship with the fluid to be compressed, and dischargingsaid gaseous fluid from said rotor via nozzles oriented to dischargebackward.

Referring to FIG. 1, therein is shown a cross section of the compressingdevice. is casing, 12 is rotor, 11 is a space around rotor, 13 is rotorouter fluid passage, 15 is'rotor internal fluid passage for fluid tobecompressed, 16 is rotorbearing and seal, 23 is shaft, -17 are rotorinternal vanes assuring that the fluid will rotate with said rotor andalso serving as heat exchange members, 18 are rotor internal vanes, 14is a fluid passage for the cooling fluid, 22 is compressed fluiddischarge, 24, are rotor internal vanes, 21 is rotor bearing and seal,

is cooling fluid inlet, 19 is'fluid inlet for the fluid to becompressed, 26 is rotor dividing wall, and 29 is cooling fluid outlet.

In FIG. 2, an end view of the unit shown in FIG. 1 is illustrated. 10 iscasing, 11 is fluid space, 14 is cooling fluid passage, 24 is internalvane, 26 is rotor wall, 19 is fluid inlet, 20 is cooling fluid inlet, isunit base, and

.22 is compressed fluid outlet.

In FIG. 3, asection of the rotor for this device is shown. 12 is saidrotor, 13 is fluid passage for the fluid being compressed, 14 is coolingfluid passage, 15 is passage for the fluid being compressed, 17 is avane, 27 is exit nozzle for the fluid being compressed, 28 indicatesrotation direction of said rotor.

In operation, the fluid to be compressed enters the said rotor viaopening 19, passes to the rotor and is accelerated to the rotor speedwith vanes 17 assuring that said fluid will rotate with said rotor.Vanes 17 will also serve as heat exchange members. Said fluid is thensage l3, and said fluid will then pass to exit nozzles 27,

or non-compressible type, such as water, air, or other fluid. Callingthe fluid to be compressed as the first fluid, and the cooling fluid asthe second fluid, following is the description of the functions of thesefluids:

The first fluid is compressed to a higher pressure than the pressure atpoint 22, by the rotating rotor. Said first fluid normally would gain intemperature when the pressure is increased, but in this device, thesecond fluid will remove most of such heat so that the compressionbecomes nearly isothermal. Said first fluid is then discharged from saidrotor exit nozzles in a direction that is backward away from thedirection of rotation and the fluid jet will produce an impulse on saidrotor nozzle, reducing the power input to said rotor from an externalsource. The velocity of the leaving jet in relation to said nozzle willbe determined by the enthalpy difference available between the pressureof the, space 13 of the said rotor, and space 11 of said casing. Saidnozzles are sized and shaped to provide for highest attainable exitvelocity, and said nozzles are either converging or converging-divergingtype as required for The second fluid enters said rotor via opening 20and is then passed to said rotor interior. Said fluid may'be eithercompressible type, such as air, or noncompressible type, such as water.Said second fluid is pressurized within said rotor passage, and for aliquid fluid, there is no appreciable temperature increase due topressurization, so that the temperature difference between a liquidsecond fluid and gaseous first fluid will larger, than a temperaturedifference between-a gaseous second fluid and gaseous first fluid.Therefore, for cooling a gaseous first fluid, a liquid second fluid isdesirable.

It should be noted thatthis device also may be used to producerefrigeration, since a gaseous ,flrst fluid when compressedisothermally, and then expanded isentropically, will have lower exittemperature at point 22 than in point, 19, FIG. 1. Also, this devicemaybe used as a generator of heat, since said second fluid will leavesaid device at a higher temperature than said second fluid enters. Ifthe device is used to produce refrigeration or heating, the pressure inpassage 11 may be space between said rotor walls and said casing,thereby reducing friction.

This device may also be used to heat said first fluid during or aftercompression, by proper selection of the said second fluid. In this typeof application, said second fluid should be a compressible gas, such asair,

while said second fluid may be a fluid such as freon. In this type ofapplication, the temperature gain of the first fluid would be more thanthe temperature gain for the said second fluid, so that heat transferwill take place from said second fluid to said first fluid with theresult that said first fluid will be warmer when being discharged fromthe unit.

Various well known devices, such as governors, gauges, and the like, areemployed with the device of this invention. They do not form a part ofthis invention and are not further described herein.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for compressing fluids and comprising:

a. a rotor for compressing said fluid by centrifugal action onsaid fluidby said rotor; said rotor having an inlet for said first fluid near thecenter of said rotor; said first fluid being passed to the interior ofsaid rotor where vanes placed within said rotor interior will assurethat said fluid will be rotating with said rotor; said fluid beingcooled by a second fluid being circulated in heat exchange relationshipwith said first fluid within said rotor; said first fluid beingdischarged from said rotor via exit nozzles oriented to discharge saidfluid in backward direction that is away from the direction of rotation;said exit nozzles being sized and shaped to provide for highestattainable exit fluid velocity from said exit nozzles; said exit nozzlesbeing either converging or converging-diverging in shape; said secondfluid being either compressible or non-compressible type; said secondfluid being passed into said rotor via entry opening near the center ofsaid rotor, being passed from there through passsages provided withinsaid rotor to area near the periphery of said rotor and then beingpassed to area near the center of said rotor and then discharged fromsaid rotor; said rotor being supported by suitable seals and bearings;said rotor being provided with a suitable power shaft;

b. a casing to support said rotor and to contain said first fluid; alsoto provide exit opening for said first cja fluid to be compressed andbeing said first fluid;

d. afluid to be used as the cooling fluid and being said second fluid.2.,The device of claim 1 wherein the casing is closely fitted to thewalls of said rotor to provide for partial evacuation of space betweensaid rotor and said casing by centrifugal action on fluid particles bysaid rotating rotor thereby reducing friction loss on said rotor.

3. A method of compressing gases and comprising:

a. a rotor for compressing said gas wherein a second.

fluid is circulated to cool said gas during and after compression toproduce essentially isothermal compression of said gas;

. discharging said gas via exit nozzles oriented to discharge said gasin backward direction; said nozzles being shaped to obtain highestattainable exit velocity for said gas; employing impulse produced by thesaid gas when leaving said exit nozzles to reduce the work required torotate said rotor;

. employing a second fluid as coolant within said rotating rotor; saidfluid being supplied to said rotor via openings near center of saidrotor, and being discharged via openings near the center of said rotorthereby reducing work required to circulate said second fluid withinsaid rotor.

4. A method of heating a second fluid in a device in which a gas iscompressed comprising:

a. heating said gas by compression in a rotating continuous flowcentrifuge rotor;

b. flowing said second fluid at an adjustable flow rate that is lessthan that required to obtain isothermal compression of said gas in saidrotor and that is sufficiently reduced to attain the desired temperatureon the effluent second fluid, in heat exchange relationship with saidfirst fluid within said rotating rotor to heat said second fluid to saiddesired temperature; said second fluid being supplied to said rotor viaopenings near the center of said rotor, and being discharged viaopenings near the center of said rotor thereby reducing work required tocirculate said secondfluid within said rotor; and

. discharging said gas via exit nozzles orientedto discharge said gassubstantially tangentially rearward in a direction opposite thedirection of rotation of said rotor such that the reaction force inducesa torque to rotate said rotor and reduces the work required therefore;said nozzles being shaped to obtain the highest attainable exit velocityfor said

1. A device for compressing fluids and comprising: a. a rotor forcompressing said fluid by centrifugal action on said fluid by saidrotor; said rotor having an inlet for said first fluid near the centerof said rotor; said first fluid being passed to the interior of saidrotor where vanes placed within said rotor interior will assure thatsaid fluid will be rotating with said rotor; said fluid being cooled bya second fluid being circulated in heat exchange relationship with saidfirst fluid within said rotor; said first fluid being discharged fromsaid rotor via exit nozzles oriented to discharge said fluid in backwarddirection that is away from the direction of rotation; said exit nozzlesbeing sized and shaped to provide for highest attainable exit fluidvelocity from said exit nozzles; said exit nozzles being eitherconverging or converging-diverging in shape; said second fluid beingeither compressible or non-compressible type; said second fluid beingpassed into said rotor via entry opening near the center of said rotor,being passed from there through passsages provided within said rotor toarea near the periphery of said rotor and then being passed to area nearthe center of said rotor and then discharged from said rotor; said rotorbeing supported by suitable seals and bearings; said rotor beingprovided with a suitable power shaft; b. a casing to support said rotorand to contain said first fluid; also to provide exit opening for saidfirst fluid; c. a fluid to be compressed and being said first fluid; d.a fluid to be used as the cooling fluid and being said second fluid. 2.The device of claim 1 wherein the casing is closely fitted to the wallsof said rotor to provide for partial evacuation of space between saidrotor and said casing by centrifugal action on fluid particles by saidrotating rotor thereby reducing friction loss on said rotor.
 3. A methodof compressing gases and comprising: a. a rotor for compressing said gaswherein a second fluid is circulated to cool said gas during and aftercompression to produce essentially isothermal compression of said gas;b. discharging said gas via exit nozzles oriented to discharge said gasin backward direction; said nozzles being shaped to obtain highestattainable exit velocity for said gas; employing impulse produced by thesaid gas when leaving said exit nozzles to reduce the work required torotate said rotor; c. employing a second fluid as coolant within saidrotating rotor; said fluid being supplied to said rotor via openingsnear center of said rotor, and being discharged via openings near thecenter of said rotor thereby reducing work required to circulate saidsecond fluid within said rotor.
 4. A method of heating a second fluid ina device in which a gas is compressed comprising: a. heating said gas bycompression in a rotating continuous flow centrifuge rotor; b. flowingsaid second fluid at an adjustable flow rate that is less than thatrequired to obtain isothermal compression of said gas in said rotor andthat is sufficiently reduced to attain the desired temperature on theeffluent second fluid, in heat exchange relationship with said firstfluid within said rotating rotor to heat said second fluid to saiddesired temperature; said second fluid being supplied to said rotor viaopenings near the center of said rotor, and being discharged viaopenings near the center of said rotor thereby reducing work required tocirculate said second fluid within said rotor; and c. discharging saidgaS via exit nozzles oriented to discharge said gas substantiallytangentially rearward in a direction opposite the direction of rotationof said rotor such that the reaction force induces a torque to rotatesaid rotor and reduces the work required therefore; said nozzles beingshaped to obtain the highest attainable exit velocity for said gas.